The South Carolina State Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks meet Tuesday in college basketball action at the Colonial Life Arena. The South Carolina State Bulldogs are coming off a 15-win season. The South Carolina Gamecocks are coming off a 18-win season.
The South Carolina State Bulldogs have won a combined 16 games the last 2 years. Cameron Jones returns after averaging 10.9 points and 4.4 rebounds, while Rahsaan Edwards averaged 8.4 points and 3 assists. Dallas James played 40 minutes last season and Raquan Brown averaged 3.5 rebounds. The South Carolina State Bulldogs lost a chunk of their depth and their best player in TJ Madlock, but Jones has the ability to be the face of this team. In 17 starts last season, Jones averaged nearly 11 points on 38.5 percent shooting from the field and 2.3 assists.
The South Carolina Gamecocks begin the Lamont Paris coaching era. Chico Carter Jr. returns after averaging 4.2 points and 0.5 rebounds, while Jacobi Wright averaged 3.4 points and 1.8 assists. Ford Cooper Jr. played in 7 minutes last season and Ja’Von Benson averaged 4.2 rebounds. The South Carolina Gamecocks say goodbye to their top-6 scorers from last season, which is sure to create some growing pains early. However, South Carolina snagged a 5-star recruit in G.G. Jackson, which is obviously a home run addition. South Carolina also added transfers in Meechie Johnson Jr. from Ohio State, Hayden Brown from The Citadel and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk from Illinois.
The Bulldogs are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 Tuesday games and 13-6-1 ATS in their last 20 road games. The Gamecocks are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 Tuesday games. The under is 6-2 in Bulldogs last 8 overall. The over is 10-2 in Gamecocks last 12 overall.
The South Carolina Gamecocks have so much roster turnover that I’m not running to the window to lay massive chalk. However, there’s still a serious talent gap between the SEC and the MEAC, and the alst thing the Gamecocks want to do is allow an in-state team that has no business hanging around to, well, hang around. I’ll assume the Gamecocks will get the job done here without issues.